If you can walk, you can dance.  

                               If you can talk, you can sing.

 

This expression from Zimbabwe is a favorite of Roberta Kirn, founder of BEWELLSING and THE SONG EXCHANGE PROJECT. It is her deeply held belief that singing, drumming and moving with others is not only fun, but profoundly healing for both individuals and groups.

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After majoring in dance and music at Dartmouth and Sarah Lawrence colleges, Roberta moved to New York City where she pursued a professional dance career. Moving to Martha's Vineyard in 1989 she went on to study singing and song leading with song leaders Ysaye Barnwell, Nick Page, Melanie DeMore and Bobby McFerrin and became the music teacher at the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School, teaching K-12 students for 10 years. At TheCharter School she began leading monthly Community Sings for all ages and directing an annual Winter Concert and Community Sing, a now 19-year old island tradition.  Roberta also has a strong connection to percussion, having participated in a West African drumming ensemble in college and playing and singing with a drum ensemble on Martha's Vineyard for over 20 years. 

 

In 2014 Roberta traveled to Nanyuki, Kenya where she had the opportunity to teach and learn songs from the girls of DarajaAcademy, a school with the mission of educating exceptional teenage girls with outstanding leadership qualities.  The most inspiring part of her trip was the experience of being in a culture where music is not just a nice sidebar - it is food, sustenance and a necessary component of survival.  

 

In 2015 she traveled to Haiti and returned to Kenya, continuing her work with what had become THE SONG EXCHANGE PROJECT, teaching songs from all over the world and learning new songs to share at home and on her travels, creating a cross-cultural web of song. Since that first trip she has continued to travel, teach and collect songs, returning to Kenya and Haiti several times and also bringing her work to South Africa, Zambia, Italy, Cuba, Germany and throughout the United States

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In 2020 her plan was to travel to Brazil but the trip had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Instead, she traveled virtually, learning and sharing online in Brazil and elsewhere, with singers and song leaders from around the world. 

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In January of 2024 Roberta was finally able to travel to Brazil where she attended a retreat with Música do Círculo, studying vocal improvisation, body percussion and how to create community through music. In March she will travel to South Africa with a group of song leaders and singers to experience the rich music, culture, history, tradition and people of South Africa.

 

"My mission is to inspire as many people as I can to sing in community, wherever and whenever possible!"

 

Through her organization BEWELLSING Roberta brings to groups and organizations of all kinds and sizes an experience of the benefits of singing together. Singing in community is dynamic, energizing and inclusive – everyone can do it, no matter how talented or tone deaf they might  be. Singing opens hearts, builds bridges across differences and lifts spirits – and it’s fun!